I took the plunge and ordered a MacBook Pro 13.6 with the retina display. It will arrive tomorrow. I have an Ipad and an Iphone, but this is my first Mac computer. Are any of you MacBook users? Any neat tips and tricks? I plan on buying the "MacBook for Dummies" book to get up to speed. Apple FTW!
The MacBook (all varieties) MASTER thread
- Thread starter Sonic
- Start date
Calculon
Member
That would depend on what you're doing. If it's just an Office, Media and Internet notebook, OS X won't be all that different than Windows or Linux, at least in my experience.
I thought about a MBPr. It's certainly a nice notebook, but my ThinkPad X220i is humming along nicely and to bump up to a MBPr would cost a large chunk of change.
A trick I did when I had a Mac Mini is put the dock on the side to maximize the vertical resolution, which is more important.
One thing I would say about thin notebooks like the MBPr or other Ultrabooks is they are difficult to repair. If you're not technically inclined, you might want to consider upgrading the warranty. If it were to break, it'll be very expensive to fix.
I thought about a MBPr. It's certainly a nice notebook, but my ThinkPad X220i is humming along nicely and to bump up to a MBPr would cost a large chunk of change.
A trick I did when I had a Mac Mini is put the dock on the side to maximize the vertical resolution, which is more important.
One thing I would say about thin notebooks like the MBPr or other Ultrabooks is they are difficult to repair. If you're not technically inclined, you might want to consider upgrading the warranty. If it were to break, it'll be very expensive to fix.
Insanika
Super Moderator
I have a three year old MacBook Pro.
I'd say take the time early to learn all of the gestures on the track pad. I never used a trackpad on my last laptop, I can't stand using a mouse anymore thanks to the fact that everything I've ever wanted to do is at the swipe, pinch, pull, pet or stroke of my fingers.
The rest is getting used to not having to fight through twenty-five menus to to anything. It's all in one place.
Do get used to actually exiting fully out of your apps and programs too. Just X-ing out of them doesn't close them. This is handy, and annoying when you get too many going lol.
I'd say take the time early to learn all of the gestures on the track pad. I never used a trackpad on my last laptop, I can't stand using a mouse anymore thanks to the fact that everything I've ever wanted to do is at the swipe, pinch, pull, pet or stroke of my fingers.
The rest is getting used to not having to fight through twenty-five menus to to anything. It's all in one place.
Do get used to actually exiting fully out of your apps and programs too. Just X-ing out of them doesn't close them. This is handy, and annoying when you get too many going lol.
ahtoxa
New member
That's what she said.
Insanika
Super Moderator
PlayCrackTheSky
Member
Would have been disappointed had you not caught that
That's what I said...
ahtoxa
New member
Would have been disappointed had you not caught that
It's too easy with your posts.I mean, 'pet' of your fingers? Lol
Thaifight-R
Pika Pii!!!
I say just play around with it for a while, and look things up on the internet if you're not sure. Not too hard to get used to.
-Grew up with Windows, but got a Mac to mess around with iOS development. lulz
btw, right click = ctrl click
-Grew up with Windows, but got a Mac to mess around with iOS development. lulz
btw, right click = ctrl click
Insanika
Super Moderator
Actually, if you've used the trackpad on a MacBook Pro, those are accurate descriptions of the gestures you make with your fingers. Just saying swipe would not suffice when swiping with one, two or three fingers accomplishes a different task.
No other way to say it.
ChrisJ
Active member
My wife's Lenovo thinkpad does the same thing with the touchpad. Probably the biggest difference is the thinkpad is a I7 quadcore for a good $400-500 less.
EDIT: I guess I should have looked before saying that. Her $700 thinkpad seems to be the equivalent to a macbook in the $2000 range unless I'm missing something. Normally I feel most laptops are built like crap besides the Apple ones but the Lenovo thinkpads seem to be pretty robust.
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ahtoxa
New member
I rarely use my laptop at home. By the time I get home, I'm tried of sitting in front of the PC all day at the office. When I do browse and post, I generally do so from my Note2. Thus I bought a $400 Samsun laptop in January of '13 and it's working really well for the limited activities I need it to perform.
ChrisJ
Active member
I needed to get the wife something she could play TF2 on so shed stop using my computer.
Insanika
Super Moderator
I bought my MacBook to have a laptop that wouldn't constantly be needing some work. I bought a Sony Vaio for school and did nothing but fix it. It constantly crashed and it sucked when you're a full time student.
My MacBook has done nothing but be the simple workhorse I've asked it to be.
My MacBook has done nothing but be the simple workhorse I've asked it to be.
davecerv
New member
I got my 13" MacBook Pro in 2010 after the stupid desktop from home couldn't handle recording software. The MBP has been excellent to me. Great machine. I only use it to surf the web, record, and edit video every once in a while. Never has it froze/crashed or acted up.
Zero complaints! I won't upgrade until it dies haha
Zero complaints! I won't upgrade until it dies haha
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FireStarter
New member
Bought my MBPro as a graduation gift to myself, so I had something new for grad school. It's been almost 4 years and it's been awesome, not a single issue or repair. Much better than the PC based stuff I used to use. We also have an Ipad and the Mrs really enjoys it.
Preloader
The M32 Martyr
I'm getting a MacAir next week, so I'm doing a big cleanup on my 500GB MacBook before transferring over.
Any tips on cleaning up storage. Clearing out a bunch of "movies" I don't watch has helped. But I suspect I've got tons of stuff I can just delete.
I can't figure out how to open a finder window that lists all files from largest to smallest. I feel like that would allow me to maximize my cleanup efficiency.
I suck at compute, so I need some elementary advice.
Any tips on cleaning up storage. Clearing out a bunch of "movies" I don't watch has helped. But I suspect I've got tons of stuff I can just delete.
I can't figure out how to open a finder window that lists all files from largest to smallest. I feel like that would allow me to maximize my cleanup efficiency.
I suck at compute, so I need some elementary advice.
Thaifight-R
Pika Pii!!!
You're getting the new Haswell powered one with ridiculous battery life right?
Good stuff. Recently picked up a 13" one. Super happy with it. Even when dual-booted to Windows, it still gets really good battery life.
My only gripe is the lack of disk space, but it is an SSD, so I can't complain too much. haha
Good stuff. Recently picked up a 13" one. Super happy with it. Even when dual-booted to Windows, it still gets really good battery life.
My only gripe is the lack of disk space, but it is an SSD, so I can't complain too much. haha
